Lancashire Institute for Economic and Business Research (LIEBR)

The Lancashire Institute for Economic and Business Research (LIEBR) is part of Lancashire Business School at UCLan.

LIEBR is led by a Director, Professor Philip B. Whyman, whose role is to co-ordinate activities and manage the work of the institute on a day-to-day basis. The strategic direction of the centre is directed by an executive committee, comprising the Director, the Deputy Director, Professor Andrei Kuznetsov, and two other elected members of the institute. The executive committee has responsibility for reviewing the progress of the institute, and determining the allocation of internal funding. The executive committee, in turn, reports to the Lancashire Business School Research Academy Board, which will oversee all research groups within the business and management cluster.

The institute is located within Lancashire Business School, although members are drawn from across UCLan. Postgraduate research (PGR) and Postgraduate taught (PGT) students are offered affiliated membership, thereby enabling (and encouraging) their participation in the work of the institute.

Vision

LIEBR aims to encourage and facilitate research into the interaction between economic, business and public policy, broadly defined. It provides an interdisciplinary space for exchanging and developing ideas relating to the drivers, design, implementation and review of economic, corporate and public policy initiatives, together with their impact upon key stakeholders - primarily business, employees and the community.

The institute seeks to support individual and collaborative research through enabling scholars to better exchange ideas, explore emerging research areas and to work more effectively with stakeholders. Researchers at LIEBR will endeavour to utilise their study of a variety of economic policy-oriented issues to provide input into research-informed public and corporate policy. The institute, moreover, provides a ‘home’ for PGR and PGT students, facilitating greater interaction, through research seminars and similar, though it is important to note that the intention is that this complements and enhances, not replaces, existing opportunities organised by the School.

Mission Statement

LIEBR aims to promote, through academic research, a greater understanding of the impact of economic forces upon the lives and livelihoods of businesses, employees and the wider community, and thereby contribute towards the development of more informed public policy.

Whyman, P. B., and Petrescu, A. I. (2014) 'Partnership, flexible workplace practices and the realisation of mutual gains: Evidence from the British WERS 2004 dataset', The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Special Issue: Partnership, Collaboration and Mutual Gains: An International Perspective, Volume 25, Issue 6, pp. 829 -851. DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2012.751439. Article first published online on 22 January 2013.

Knowledge Network 4 Business (KN4B)

LIEBR, together with colleagues from across the Lancashire Business School, has established the Knowledge Network 4 Business (KN4B). This aims to develop a series of interlinked, business networks within Lancashire to facilitate knowledge exchange between academic and business participants. It provides the opportunity for small and medium businesses to interact with research-informed evidence, presented by academics from LBS, together with case studies of business practice, presented by leading practitioners drawn from within the region.

The KN4B programme utilised a series of master class presentations and action learning sets to stimulate peer to peer consideration of how new ideas and innovations may be adapted into their own operations and enhance business performance.

In addition, workshops were supplemented by a short series of webinars, subsequently summarised and presented in the form of podcasts.

KN4B was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, Grant Number ES/J021075/1). The network has been further supported by the economic development teams at local councils (research partners) in Preston, Chorley, Burnley and Pendle. The project was led by Professor Philip B. Whyman (PI) and managed by Sally Bate. LIEBR wishes to thank all concerned for their help and support in making this project a success.

Jean Monnet Programme

The economics team within the Lancashire Business School has been awarded Jean Monnet Teaching Modules funding by the European Union Lifelong Learning Programme. This provides support for the development of a suite of modules relating to the teaching of the economics of European integration. The award will, furthermore, facilitate the development of a programme of related studies, where experts from academia, business and public policy institutions, will give a short series of guest talks aimed at supporting this programme. It will, furthermore, provide the opportunity for participation from outside LBS, whether students from elsewhere in UCLan, partner colleges or interested parties from the local community. Presentations will be presented on line for wider dissemination of the ideas arising from these sessions.

Professor Whyman was invited to speak on the development of future macroeconomic policy (post-Brexit) as a panel member at a Policy Exchange fringe meeting at the recent Labour Party conference. Link here.

On the BBC News Channel, Professor Philip B. Whyman has given his reaction to the Prime Minister’s speech on Brexit. This snapshot captured a glimpse from the media discussion which took place live on January 17th, 2017.

Professor Philip B. Whyman has given a presentation as part of the discussion group entitled ‘Trade Relations and Economic Impact’ at the House of Commons conference ‘Brexit: An Academic Conference’. The conference took place on Thursday 10th of November, and was introduced as follows:

‘Now that the UK has voted to leave the EU what will happen next? When the UK Government starts to negotiate the withdrawal process, the current situation in a range of policy areas – from fisheries to foreign and security policy – is likely to change. What light can academics throw on the uncertainties? This conference brings together parliamentary researchers and academics to consider some of the key policy areas affected by the UK’s decision to leave the EU.’

Professor Philip B. Whyman has contributed as a panellist to the Labour Party Fringe 2016 strategic policy discussion entitled “Is there scope for a real Alternative Labour Economic Strategy post Brexit?”. The event theme was summarised as follows: “In the aftermath of Brexit, should Labour once against seek an alternative to what you might call the modern Treasury view of classical finance, monetary activism and ever increasing globalisation?” Read more of the event briefing note.

Professor Philip B. Whyman will part be of the panel at the local Brexit Debate held at Longton Sports & Social Club on Monday the 13th of June 2016 – for further details please see this poster.

LIEBR Brexit Q&A Session takes place Fri 3 June from 12-1 in GR350

Thank you to all who have registered their interest in attending the Brexit Q&A session to be hosted by Professor Philip B. Whyman, Director of the Lancashire Institute for Economic and Business Research (LIEBR).

This LIEBR event is now scheduled to take place on Friday the 3rd of June 2016 from 12:00-13:00 in Greenbank Building room GR350.

Professor Philip B. Whyman has published an article in The Conversation on the very topical Brexit theme.

Professor Whyman gave a research seminar at Manchester Metropolitan University, on 15 April 2016. His presentation, entitled 'Brexit': Should we stay or should we go?, formed part of the Accounting, Finance and Economics seminar series.

Professor Whyman was invited as one of the speakers in The Economics of 'Brexit' debate which took place as part of the Post-Crash Economics Society (PCES) conference 'Economics for Everyone' at the University of Manchester, on 17 April 2016. The other speakers were Andrew Lilico, Managing Director of Europe Economics, and Vicky Pryce, former Director General for Economics at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Joint Head of the UK Government Economic Service. (Below: pictures of the seminar).

The EU referendum represents a once in a generation opportunity for everyone in the UK to decide whether we should remain a member of the EU or whether we should leave.
Join us for this Oxford Union style debate to hear from both sides, explore the options and put your questions forward to the guest speakers.

Chair - Fiona Armstrong, British television journalist

STAY SPEAKERSProf Mike Thomas, Vice-Chancellor (2015-2018), University of Central LancashireMark Hendrick MP, Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for Preston

LEAVE SPEAKERSProf Philip B Whyman, Professor of Economics and Director of the Lancashire Institute for Economic and Business Research, University of Central LancashireDr Mark Baimbridge, Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Bradford

This is a free event and everyone is welcome to attend. For further enquiries contact Aimee Cairns on 01172 894032. View the Brexit Debate Event poster for more information.

If you would like to engage further with some of the issues raised in the Jean Monnet series, then you have the opportunity to join free of charge the Webinar "Brexit: Britain on the Brink" taking place on Thursday 18th of February 2016.

Professor Andrei Kuznetsov has been invited to participate in a panel at the 2014 meeting of the Academy of International Business (Vancouver), and he has been invited to present a paper at the forthcoming 30th colloquium of the European Group of Organizational Studies.

LIEBR is proud to host Professor Julie le Gallo (Professor in Economics and Econometrics, Université de Franche-Comté, CRESE, France) as Distinguished Visiting Professor. During her time in LIEBR, Professor le Gallo will be working with Dr. Kostov, on research projects related to spatial panel quantile convergence study (econometrics). Julie will, additionally, act as a member of a PhD supervision team and present a paper in the institute's Jean Monnet Guest Speaker Programme.

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has an annual competition for the award of a limited number of research internships, to take place over the summer months. The scheme is intended to provide interns with useful experience of working in most aspects of a research project, enhancing their skills and employability, whilst providing temporary research support for the UCLan research community.

The Lancashire Institute for Economics and Business Research (LIEBR) is pleased to invite you to the forthcoming Jean Monnet research seminar, to take place Wednesday 19th March.

Change of seminar presenter and topic

Presenter: Dr. Philip Kostov, Reader in Quantitative Economics at Lancashire Business School, University of Central Lancashire is to presentTitle: The incidence rates of Common Agricultural Policy subsidies: Rhetoric and evidenceAbstract: In spite of the large decrease of the share of the Common Agricultural Policy in the EU budget from more than 75% to around 45% of the total budgetary expenditure it is still by far the largest expenditure item on the European menu. It is therefore important to review who actually benefits from the CAP payments. It appears that there is considerable gap between the officially stated aims of the agricultural subsidies and their effects. The recent move towards decoupling of agricultural support is claimed to capitalise if farm rents hence being even more out of line with the farmers income support claims than the previous direct payments system.

Seminar followed by opportunities for discussion and networking.

All welcome - this series of seminars is open to all interested in the Common Agricultural Policy and related EU policy matters.

Venue: UCLan, Room: GR 278

For more information or to confirm your attendance, please contact Dr. Alina Petrescu at APetrescu@uclan.ac.uk

As part of the Distinguished Visitor Programme, introduced by UCLan, the Lancashire Business School have invited Professor Daniel McMillen, of the University of Illinois (USA), to work with Dr. Philip Kostov of LIEBR.

The aim of the programme is to promote world-leading research collaborations, through facilitating a short targeted visit to UCLan between 1st October 2013 and 31st March 2014.

Professor McMillen and Dr. Kostov will be working on spatial and quantile analysis.

The Annual Conference of the Association of Business Historians (ABH)
Responding to a theme of “Business History in the 21st Century
Dr. Thomas Haigh of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (USA) – the keynote speaker

UCLan hosted more than 90 delegates for the meeting arriving from thirteen countries including Finland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, Portugal, the United States, and Chile.
More than 75 presentations took place on a variety of business and economic history topics

Semester 1

Title: Exploring the Impact of Change in Cross-Cultural ManagementPresenter and Affiliation: Dr. Jessica Lichy, IDRAC Research (IDRAC International School of Management, France)Date, Time and Venue: 1st November 2012 (1-2pm); Room: GR 358

Event description: LIEBR, along with the Preston City Council, co-hosts a guest lecture focused upon how the co-operative model can be utilised to promote local economic development.Presenter and Affiliation: Ted Howard, Evergreen Co-operatives, Cleveland, USADate, Time and Venue: 30th October 2012, 4pm, LBS

Academic Year 2011-2012

Semester 2

Title: Is There a Recipe for Success? Price, Quality and Spatial Competition in the UK Restaurant IndustryPresenter and Affiliation: Dr. Rob Simmons, Lancaster University Management SchoolDate, Time and Venue: 2nd May (1-2pm); Room: GR 276

Joint presentationTitle: An Empirical Study of the Relationship between Earnings Management and Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure in UK CompaniesPresenter and Affiliation: Yousf Almahrog, Lancashire Business School
andTitle: Corporate Governance Effects on Firm Performance in JordanPresenter and Affiliation: Zyad Marashdeh, Lancashire Business SchoolDate, Time and Venue: 28th of March 2012 (1-2pm); Room: BB 412

Title: Turkey: On the Way to EU AccessionPresenter and Affiliation: Dr. Yontem Sonmez, Lancashire Business SchoolDate, Time and Venue: 22nd February 2012 (1-2pm); Room: HA 108

Title: Negotiating Sustainability: Water Scarcity and the Expansion of the Mining IndustryPresenter and Affiliation: Dr. Leonith Hinojosa-Valencia, Open UniversityDate, Time and Venue: 8th February 2012 (1-2pm); Room: GR 273

Semester 1

Title: On "The Sacred" in the WorkplacePresenter and Affiliation: To Be Announced (TBA)Date, Time and Venue: 16th December 2011 (12-1pm); Room: GR348

Title: The Effects of Corruption on Consumer Demand: The Case of Italian FootballPresenter and Affiliation: Dr. Babatunde Buraimo, School of Sport, Tourism and The OutdoorsDate, Time and Venue: 7th December 2011 (1-2pm); Room: GR350

Related Projects

The work of the institute currently focuses upon four research themes, namely:

European integration

This area of work encompasses aspects relating to enlargement, trade issues, regional convergence/divergence, competition and industrial policy, the development of the European Social Model and sustainability issues relating to Economic and Monetary Union. This research programme is led by Somnez, Whyman and Petrescu. External stakeholder-sponsors include the Global Britain organisation. Research findings have contributed towards House of Commons and House of Lords select committee reports.

Corporate citizenship

This research stream focuses upon the interaction between organisations and their stakeholders, organisational sustainability, corporate social responsibility, standards and business strategy, co-operatives and mutual forms of ownership. This stream will be led by Kuznetsov, Kostov, Whyman and Petrescu.

Labour economics

Primary areas of work relate to labour market flexibility, work-life balance and well-being at work, human capital investment in education and training, together with EU labour markets and migration (including the impact of remittances on developing countries). This stream is led by Whyman, Petrescu, Buraimo and Larsson. Stakeholder-sponsors have included BIS (formerly BERR/DTI). Research findings additionally contribute towards the NWDA-funded LEAD programme, providing leadership and management training for SMEs within the North West.

Enhancing business performance

This research programme includes ongoing projects relating to high performance workplaces, SMEs in recession and during the economic recovery, economic policy and business innovation, determinants of charitable giving, together with the impact upon ownership and business structure upon performance and economic stability. This stream will be led by Petrescu, Whyman, Buraimo and Kostov. Stakeholder-supporters include the Forum of Private Business, Federation of Small Businesses, Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, and Lancashire County Council.

An extract from the report, focusing upon skills evaluation for the development of the shale gas industry in Lancashire, can be found here.